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Special to the Star-Bulletin
Palmer Tanaka puts finishing touches on his Pacific Potpourri.

Prize-winning kid cooks
take over the kitchen

Crescent rolls rule

Star-Bulletin

This is not kid stuff.

Palmer Tanaka's first-place entry in the Pillsbury Kids Bake-Off Contest is a very grown-up take on cioppino, and it won him a $500 savings bond -- plus a computer for his school, Wailupe Valley Elementary -- at the Saturday competition.

Palmer, age 11, won his division (12 and under) for his Pacific Potpourri, seafood in a tomato-based broth. Luke D. Myers, a 15-year-old home-school student won the upper division (13-18) for his Apple Danish Braid.

Palmer's Pacific Potpourri

Palmer Tanaka

1 small onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 stick butter
1 large tomato, diced
1 small carrot, diced
5-6 pieces each large scallops, shrimp, clams, mussels and crab meat
1 19-ounce can Progresso Zesty Herb Tomato Soup
1 8-ounce bottle clam juice
1/4 cup white wine
1 cube beef bouillon
1 pinch each tarragon, paprika and saffron
1 bay leaf
Salt, white pepper and hondashi, to taste

Saute onions and garlic in butter until onions are clear. Add tomato and carrot and saute 5 minutes. Add shrimp and scallops, removing when cooked.

Add soup, clam juice, wine, bouillon and herbs; simmer 15-20 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and hondashi. Return shrimp and scallops to pan; add remaining seafood. Simmer just until clams and mussels open.

Garnish with parsley and serve with slices of French bread. Serves 2-3.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving (without salt or hondashi to taste): 550 calories, 33 g total fat, 19 g saturated fat, 150 mg cholesterol, greater than 2,000 mg sodium.*

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Special to the Star-Bulletin
Luke D. Myers puts the finishing touches on his braid.

Crescent rolls rule
among kid bakers

Star-Bulletin staff

The crescent roll is the young chef's best friend. Or so it would appear by the number of finalists in the Pillsbury Kids Bake-Off Contest who relied on this quick-and-easy product to pull their recipes together.

The recipes had to use at least one Pillsbury, Green Giant, Hungry Jack, Progresso or Old El Paso product -- yet with the world of choices out there, half of the six finalists used crescent rolls.

It's a testament to the rolls' versatility that it showed up in all three recipe categories -- appetizer, entree and a dessert.

Along with Palmer Tanaka and Luke D. Myers, who won the top prizes in their divisions, the other finalists were:

Division I (ages 12 and under): Christopher Pratt, 10, Mauka Lani Elementary, appetizer category, for Teri-rific Chicken and Broccoli Ring; Jeffrey Masui, 9, Noelani Elementary, dessert category, for Jeff's Cinnamon Mac Orange Bread.

Division II (ages 13 to 18): Allison Souza, 16, Maui High School, appetizer, for Cheese and Veggie Delites; Russell Fukushima, 15, King Kekaulike High School, easy-meal, for Savory Crescent Chicken Bundles.

Palmer and Luke's entries were in the easy meal and dessert categories, respectively.

Apple Danish Braid

Luke D. Myers

8 ounces cream cheese
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
2 8-ounce packages Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Combine cream cheese and sugar until well-blended. Add egg, whisking until smooth.

Unroll 1 package of rolls; do not separate. Place the dough on a baking stone with the longest side across the stone. Unroll the second package of dough and lay it next to the first. Seal the perforations, and seal the two pieces of dough together. On the long side of the dough, make 3-inch-long cuts 1-1/2 inches apart, beginning at the outside edge. Repeat on the other side. Leave center of the dough intact.

Spread half the cream cheese mixture over the center of the dough. Arrange apple slices over cream cheese. Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the apples. Top apples with remaining cream cheese mixture. Pick up a strip of dough in each hand and fold both over the apples and cream cheese. Twist the strips together and tuck in the ends.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-28 minutes, until deep golden brown. Serve warm with ice cream.

Nutritional information unavailable.

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